Sōgetsu Ma
Sougetsu Ma is the elder brother of Kensei Ma, master of Natsu Tanimoto, and the true Chinese Kempo Master of Yami's One Shadow, Nine Fists. Personality Sougestu Ma is a cruel man who does not care for the well-being of other individuals and will attack anyone without hesitation, even his own brother Ma Kensei. He is an apathetic man, not caring for the condition of others around him and never has a surprised look on his face over any predicimant. Natsu describes him as a bully and believes that there are times where he enjoys tormenting and torturing him during his training. However, he does care about his disciple and has high faith in him, such as his battle with Yomi, he knew he would win in the end. He even may even worry over him from time to time. However, as noted by Natsu, he tends to ask too much for him and trains him to do things beyond his capacity, making him forceful in what he wants. He is a compulsive drinker, as he's almost always seen drinking out of his gord for sake. Sougestu even seems to be rather mused by Kenichi's efforts for trying to save his life in the fire. Knowing he'll die along with him, Sougestu chose to let him live while showing gratitude on his face for his efforts. While the current Sougetsu is portrayed as somewhat sympathetic, and does somewhat redeem himself by saving Kenichi, the original Sougetsu was given no positive traits whatsoever, and was a wrathful man consumed with revenge. Also, Kensei cries in response to his "death", unlike the current series, in which he stays silent. Appearance Sougestu Ma is a tall and very muscular middle-aged man with short black hair and a thick beard. He usually wears a open vest to reveal his chest, dark pants, and has his gord in his hands all the time and has armbands around his wrists. In his younger years, he was clean shaven. Of all the characters who appeared in the original Kenichi series, Sougetsu seems to have been the design that has been altered the most. In the originally series, Sougetsu was much smaller, just slightly taller than his brother Kensei. He also had long hair and a moustache, rather than his beard and spiky hair. He was also much more goofy and leaner built in appearance, wearing a baseball cap and wearing much more modern clothes, while carrying a jug of alcohol. Background When he was young, he trained with Kensei Ma in Chinese Kenpo, and became a master. However, his domineering appearance scared the people around him. He became bitter and lonely, and decided that the true meaning of Martial Arts was to destroy others. He became a murderer at the age of 20 and was forced to leave his country, though he stated that the reason for his leave was not because of the murder, but rather because he had nowhere to go from the start. At some point he takes Natsu Tanimoto as a student after being bribed with large amounts of expensive wine. The brotherly bond between him and Kensei does not seem to have been completely diminished, however, as Natsu claims that whenever he became drunk, he would repeatedly boast about Kensei and his skill. Ragnarok Saga 'Relations Arc' When he first appeared, he fought against Renka and Kenichi who were looking for Kensei. Kensei heard news of his brother returning and working for the local mafia, so he decided to go alone and face him. Both Kenichi and Renka proved too weak to fight the Kung Fu Master, and were saved by Kensei. Sougetsu on his part betrayed his Mafia employers and killed them before his younger brother arrived. Sougetsu loses and hears his younger brother say that the reason he won was because he had friends backing him up. Kenichi attempts to save him, but Sougetsu denies salvation and instead pushes Kenichi back into the elevator while he stayed in the burning building, left for dead, though his body was not found. Yami/YOMI Saga 'DofD Tournament Arc' He reappeared in the D of D tournament, as one of the masters hired by Fortuna to defend Despair Island. However, he once again betrayed his employer by defeating and killing the rest of the masters that were hired by Fortuna once he was paid. His reason for doing this was unknown, but at the time he didn't rejoin Yami and possibly wanted to test his strength or could have been given a secret mission to take out Fortuna and all his resources since Yami planned to rid the use of weapons for martial arts. He was also found by Natsu Tanimoto who once again began to undergo his training. 'Weapon Fighters Arc' He is last seen in the base of Yami where Tanimoto calls him the Fierce Fist God. After Hermit defeated an unknown fighter, he felt Hermit was ready to take up the position of YOMI. Upon rejoining Yami and meeting up with Ro Jisei they met with good terms, but Ro's disciple, Chou Enshin was not pleased with the meeting and challenged Hermit to a death match. As the two disciples fight for the YOMI position and the Moon emblem, Ma Sougetsu and Ro Jisei watched their match. Much of the match was placed in stalemate, since both disciples used the exact same martial arts and techniques. Toward the end, Sougetsu stated that the reason Hermit will win is because he fought against a larger variety of fighters. Upon Chou's defeat, both Ma and Hermit took up their respective places in Yami and YOMI. Later, when the next disciple chosen to fight Kenichi comes up, YOMI's leader Kajima states that Sougetsu has shown no interest in having his disciple fight Kenichi. The reason is unknown as to why, but it could be due to his subtle respect for Kenichi and wanting the inevitable rematch between Natsu Tanimoto and Shirahama Kenichi to be outside of Yami's sanctimonious battle between disciples. 'Return to Japan Arc' With Jenazad dead, Sougetsu and the other remaining members of Yami gathered to discuss the matter, but Sougetsu was seen on a moniter and said nothing in the meeting and just drank from his goard. Abilities Fitting his imposing appearance, Sougetsu is without question a powerful Master-class fighter, recognized even by Yami to become a member of the Nine Fist, One Shadow. Rivaling his young brother Kensei's reputuation, who most consider the greatest master of all Chinese martial arts in history, Sougetsu is a immensely skilled and well-knowledged combatant, having especially earned great fame for his usage of strong-fist style. Since his younger days while still training, he already earned a reputation as a fierce fighter, having difficulty holding back to the point he would easily level countless opponents near dead. Even against multiple fellow Master-class fighters handpicked for security, Sougetsu found little difficulty or enjoyment defeating them. * Immense Strength: Having dedicated himself to the art of destroying his opponents, Sougetsu has gained dangerous raw might in battle. Regularly, he shows no concern to his environment, effortlessly smashing everything in his way to get to his opponents. A nonchalant push against his opponent can force the victim through a wall. * Immense Endurace: Even after being critically wounded by Kensei, Sougetsu still had enough strength to launch Kenichi across the room to get him out of the fire. * Highly Perceptive Combatant: While normally fighting more with force than finesse, Sougetsu has great insight to the battle at hand. While watching Tanimoto fight, he could easily see the mistakes in his disciple's attacks and correct him. He could also easily see though a fighters demeanor to deduce the nature of the tactics. 'Techniques' *'Uryuu Banda' (Chinese: Wu Long Pan Da, English: Black Dragon Smash): An open palm slap striking towards the ground in a flat stance with heavy momentum. *'Sei Shin Kou': The user grabs onto his opponent's waist and slams his own waist into his opponent's while placing his other hand above his head to guard against further attacks. *'Ten Zan Kou': The user brings his foot to his opponent's foot and sidesteps him, proceeding to launch an elbow attack to the vitals of his opponent's back. *'Kyousa' (Grim Cross): Sougetsu Ma's ultimate move uses two weaker attacks that hit the enemy's sides with little effect and a third primary attack toward the center at the stomach to augment damage in a similar manner to a gamma knife. *'Chouchukikoku Uryuu Banda' (Devil's sadness elbow strike, Black Dragon Smash): a combination move visually depicted as similar to Kenichi's Strongest Combos. The user appears to use a direct palm strike to the enemy's front, following it by pulling his enemy's arm downwards while striking his open body, an upward palm strike to the enemy's chin, seemingly followed by Kyousa, and then Uryuu Banda. 'Battle Log' 'Past Battles' vs Kensei (won) vs unamed man (won, killed him) Battles Present vs Kensei (loss) vs master opponents of the D of D Tournament (won) Category:History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi character Category:Satsujinken Category:Yami Category:Master Category:Ma Family Category:Characters Category:S-Class Master Category:Chinese Kenpo Users Category:Dou Category: Male